Ok so after our miserable introduction to NY – wet head to toe, zero degrees, stranded in the middle of the city with all our luggage, which also got drenched – we were happy to see that it wasn't raining this morning.
Still horribly jet lagged and after about 3 hours of sleep, we got up around 9 and headed down for breakfast.
We didn't really have a plan for today so we decided to start walking from our hotel in the lower east side to Times Square.
The walk took a while, but there was plenty to see, including the sewer drains where the ninja turtles and possibly master splinter live, the grocery store from sesame street, the caged basketball courts from hanging with Mr Cooper, Madison square gardens etc etc.
The streets here are beautiful in winter (if you like city streets and/or winter) lined with stark trees and old buildings.
I wanted to use my iphone so i stopped into a store and bought a prepaid sim card. $80 dollars later i had one, however this turned out to be a waste of money as it did not allow for internet / downloads meaning i have to use $80 of local calls on this trip. So there goes my plans of using the gps etc to get around town.
We kept walking and made it up to times square, which was pretty impressive but also exactly what i expected. Lots of bright lights, traffic, people, bars, restaurants. We checked out a few of the stores and had lunch in a "french" restaurant. We got crepes which were tasty but as with most american food overloaded with cheese and accompanied by some double deep fried chips.
After luch decided to head to the Museum of Modern Art, or MoMA.
This place is huge, and is filled with famous artworks which were awesome to see.
There was also a Van Gogh exhibition with pretty much all of his famous paintings.
Highlights were seeing work by Mondrian, Monet, Matisse, Picasso, Lichtenstein and of course Andy Warhol. Paintings i never thought i would see in real life so i was happy.
After walking around the gallery for the rest of the day we headed out, checked out times square at night (which was even more impressive) and then got on the subway home.
Passed plenty of shops and restaurants on the way which i am keen to check out in the next few days. Very easy to spend money here!
About to head out for dinner now.
-J
